Why this ride
A 359 km round trip from Cehegín - roughly 6 h 40 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cueva de los Pucheros, Abrigo de los Cortijos, Cueva del Peliciego and Olula. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cueva de las Palamas and Olula
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 359 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 40
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cueva de las Palamas
Cehegín, in the north-west of the Murcia region, is a town of two faces: a modern lower town, and an old town on a hill, with steep streets, noble houses and churches, declared a historic site. The Cueva de las Palomas, the cave of the doves, lies on the edge of the town, less than a kilometre from the centre, with the larger town of Caravaca de la Cruz about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de las Palamas is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de los Pucheros.
2. Cueva de los Pucheros
North-west of Cieza, the Segura river cuts through a dry landscape of limestone ridges, almond and fruit orchards, and rice fields that look out of place in arid Murcia. The Cueva de los Pucheros, a rock shelter in these hills between Cieza and Calasparra, is one of the many sites in the region holding prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Like most of these shelters, it is fragile and often protected by a fence, and access may require a guided visit arranged through the local authorities.
Read the complete Cueva de los Pucheros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de los Pucheros comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo de los Cortijos.
3. Abrigo de los Cortijos
Hellín is a town in the south-east of Albacete province, on the edge of the dry plains of La Mancha, where the landscape breaks into hills and ravines on its way down to the Segura river. Its old town climbs a hill crowned by a castle, and its streets are lined with houses from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Abrigo de los Cortijos lies in the hills about nine kilometres from the town, toward Albatana and Tobarra.
Read the complete Abrigo de los Cortijos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 88 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo de los Cortijos. Next is Cueva del Peliciego.
4. Cueva del Peliciego
Jumilla is wine. This town in the north of Murcia sits in a high, dry valley surrounded by bare mountains, and its vineyards, planted with the Monastrell grape, produce powerful red wines under the Jumilla designation of origin, one of the oldest in Spain. The Cueva del Peliciego, a rock shelter in the hills near the town, holds prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, and it has been known since the early twentieth century, when it was one of the first rock art sites studied in the region.
Read the complete Cueva del Peliciego write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva del Peliciego, about halfway. Next is Olula.
5. Olula
Caudete and Almansa sit in a corridor of land where Castile-La Mancha, Valencia and Murcia meet, and for centuries this was frontier country, where kingdoms and armies passed and fought. Olula is a point in the hills near Caudete, linked on the rides with rock-art shelters in the surrounding sierras, part of the extensive UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in Mediterranean Spain.
Read the complete Olula write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Olula sits at 156 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva del Peliciego.
6. back through Cueva del Peliciego
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Peliciego write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva del Peliciego comes up about 238 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abrigo de los Cortijos.
7. back through Abrigo de los Cortijos
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo de los Cortijos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 272 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abrigo de los Cortijos. Next is back through Cueva de los Pucheros.
8. back through Cueva de los Pucheros
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de los Pucheros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva de los Pucheros, late in the day. Next is Cueva de las Palamas.
9. Cueva de las Palamas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 359 km.
Leg by leg
Cueva de las Palamas to Cueva de los Pucheros
Cueva de las Palamas → Cueva de los Pucheros is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de los Pucheros to Abrigo de los Cortijos
Cueva de los Pucheros → Abrigo de los Cortijos is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de los Cortijos to Cueva del Peliciego
Abrigo de los Cortijos → Cueva del Peliciego is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva del Peliciego to Olula
Cueva del Peliciego → Olula is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olula to back through Cueva del Peliciego
Olula → back through Cueva del Peliciego is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva del Peliciego to back through Abrigo de los Cortijos
back through Cueva del Peliciego → back through Abrigo de los Cortijos is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de los Cortijos to back through Cueva de los Pucheros
back through Abrigo de los Cortijos → back through Cueva de los Pucheros is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de los Pucheros to Cueva de las Palamas
back through Cueva de los Pucheros → Cueva de las Palamas is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
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